This week, Governor Greg Abbott activated Texas’ emergency response teams to prepare for severe storms across the state. Rescue boats, helicopters, and infrastructure teams are on standby — all before the first drop of rain hits.
https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-activates-state-emergency-response-resources-ahead-of-severe-storm-threat
It’s a powerful reminder: the time to prepare is before the storm, not during it.
Your IT infrastructure works the same way. Whether it’s a cyberattack, a server crash, or a power outage, the worst time to figure out how to respond is in the middle of the crisis.
Texas Weather and IT Disasters Have Something in Common
If you’ve lived in Texas long enough, you know how quickly the weather can change. One moment it’s sunshine and barbecue — the next, it’s flash floods and lightning.
IT problems work the same way. You might go months without a hiccup, but when a ransomware attack, hardware failure, or cloud outage strikes, it can stop your business cold. Just like with storms, you can’t always predict when, but you can prepare.
The Cost of Waiting Until It’s Too Late
When your IT systems go down unexpectedly, it’s not just an inconvenience. It’s lost productivity, missed deadlines, frustrated clients, and — in some industries — regulatory violations.
According to Gartner, the average cost of downtime for mid-sized businesses is around $5,600 per minute. And if sensitive data is exposed during that downtime, the damage to your reputation can linger long after systems are back online.
Your Business’ “IT Storm Kit”
Just like Texans keep flashlights, bottled water, and batteries ready for storm season, your business needs its own set of digital emergency supplies:
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Data Backup & Recovery Plan
Keep offsite/cloud backups that are tested regularly — not just stored and forgotten. Know your Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO). -
Redundant Internet & Power
Invest in LTE hotspot devices for emergencies. Use UPS battery backups and surge protectors to keep systems running during short outages. -
Cloud Failover Systems
If your primary servers go down, have systems that automatically switch to a backup environment with minimal disruption. -
Network Monitoring & Alerts
A 24/7 Security Operations Center can catch small issues before they snowball into outages. -
Incident Response Playbook
Have a clear, step-by-step plan: who to call, what systems to check first, and how to keep critical operations going.
A Real-World Example
One of our new customers in The Woodlands had just signed on with us before the last hurricane swept through the area. As part of our onboarding, we had already put our 3-2-1 backup strategy in place — three copies of their data, stored on two different types of media, with one copy offsite.
When the storm hit, their office building took a direct hit. A tree crashed through the roof, flooding their entire IT room. It was a total disaster physically — servers soaked, wiring ruined — but from an operational standpoint, we were ready.
Once it was safe to re-enter the building and assess the damage, we immediately activated our Incident Response Playbook and went into full disaster recovery mode. Using the backups we had set up, we spun up a virtual server in our secure data center and had their core business systems online within five business days — just in time for their staff to get power restored at home.
The result? They kept serving customers without skipping a beat, even while their physical office was undergoing major repairs.
Preparation Is the Best Insurance
In Texas, we can’t stop the storms — but we can get ready for them. Your IT infrastructure is no different. The sooner you prepare, the smoother you’ll weather the rough patches ahead.
If you’re not sure how storm-ready your business is, now’s the time to find out — before the clouds roll in.
Want to make sure your IT systems can weather any storm?
We offer a complimentary IT Storm Preparedness Audit to review your backups, failover, and incident response plan.
The best time to prepare is now — not when the wind is already howling.
